Marshawn Lynch would make the Raiders offense unstoppable

It’s not official just yet, but it looks like Marshawn Lynch will return to the NFL for the 2017 season. And if he does come out of retirement, the Oakland Raiders are the most likely landing spot for the 30-year-old running back. He visited the team’s facility Tuesday.

The prospect of Lynch joining the Raiders should terrify the rest of the league. Oakland is already loaded. Adding Lynch, even if he’s just a facsimile of the player he was in Seattle, to a stable of skill players that includes Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Andre Holmes at receiver; Jared Cook at tight end; and change-of-pace backs DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard would just be unfair.

We might as well give Derek Carr the MVP trophy at Lynch’s contract signing. Carr will have too many options for a defense to slow down this offense, which is going to score about a billion points. Especially with the offensive line GM Reggie McKenzie has built.

Murray’s weakness, as you can see in the video above, is his field vision. He’s a powerful straight-line runner, but doesn’t see the cutback lanes that are so vital to the success of the zone-blocking system Oakland employs. That’s why the Raiders were comfortable letting him walk in free agency this offseason.

Lynch will offer the best of both worlds. Like Murray, he’s a powerful runner (see: Beastquake), but what made him so good in Seattle was his ability to use his peripheral vision to find those cutback lanes Murray left unexplored too often.

Lynch never ran behind an offensive line as good as the one he’ll have if he signs with the Raiders. So while he may have lost a step or two over the last few years, he could still match his production in Seattle by simply taking advantage of the massive holes Oakland’s line will consistently open up.

The Raiders had a solid running game in 2015, but with a back like Lynch, who actually fits their system, it should be one of the best in the league. Add that to an already powerful passing game — which should only get better with Carr and Cooper continuing to develop and a matchup nightmare like Cook joining the fray — and Oakland could have the best offense in the league in 2017.

If the defense can improve to even a league-average level, the Raiders could very well win one last Super Bowl for their fans in Oakland before bolting for Las Vegas.

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